When a game pays homage to a real-life historical figure, it's usually a nice touch — unless you gender-swap a beloved male scientist into a female character and try to pass it off as a tribute. That's exactly what players discovered when they dug into Wuthering Waves (鸣潮) and found that the game had neta'd the story of Gu Fangzhou, the father of China's polio vaccine, but changed him into a woman.
Gu Fangzhou is a legendary figure in Chinese medical history. He spearheaded the development of China's first polio (infantile paralysis) vaccine, distributing it as tiny 'sugar pills' (糖丸) that protected countless children from disability. He was lovingly called 'Sugar Pill Grandfather' (糖丸爷爷) by the nation. Having a game reference his story should have been a respectful nod — but the writers at Kuro Games (库洛) decided to flip his gender, and the community was having none of it.
The NGA thread erupted immediately. One top reply called it 'stealing a strong man's achievements and committing historical fraud' (偷强者功绩，欺世盗名), while another sarcastically quipped 'the heroines have unlocked their second life — now they're just openly robbing men's legacies' (英雌活出第二世，这回直接明抢了), mocking the practice of reassigning male historical figures' contributions to female game characters.
One particularly resonant comment nailed the absurdity: 'Vaccine, female, scientist, inspirational — that literally maps to Tu Youyou. Why not honor her? Instead they go crazy gender-swapping in this political climate.' And the commenter has a point — China has no shortage of real female scientific heroes. Tu Youyou (Nobel Prize in Medicine for artemisinin), Jin Xueshu, Lin Qiaozhi, Wu Mingzhu — their stories are extraordinary on their own. There was zero need to 'create' a female role model by hijacking a male scientist's biography.
Another player pointed out that while Tu Youyou's field was therapeutics rather than vaccines, that actually underscores the problem: 'Some people aren't satisfied with what's already in their own bowl — they have to eye what's on someone else's plate.' There were perfectly good tribute options available, yet the writers chose the most inflammatory route possible.
Players also questioned whether this crosses a legal line: 'This is textbook historical fraud — where do we report this?' Others used the situation to vent about broader frustrations with the gaming industry: 'I'll never complain about game license delays again — clearly there are too many that deserve to be blocked.' The anger went beyond this one game; it reflected deep skepticism about the quality and ethics of gacha game writers as a whole.
As of now, Kuro Games has not issued any response regarding the controversy. But this incident reignited a perennial debate: when game writers reference real historical figures, should they at minimum respect basic historical facts? Turning 'Sugar Pill Grandfather' into 'Sugar Pill Big Sister' isn't creative liberty — it's erasure. And the community is not having it.
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